Spouse & Civil Partner
Family Class category allows Canadian citizens and those with a permanent residence to sponsor their spouses, common law or conjugal partners who live inside or outside of Canada. There are number of criteria which must be satisfied by a sponsor as well as the applicant and the actual requirements will depend on the category applied under.
A spouse/ same-sex visa is one of Family Class Visas. In order to fall under this category you will have to prove that you are married to your sponsor who is Canadian or holds a permanent residence and that your marriage is legally valid.
If you were married in Canada you will have to hold a Certificate of Marriage issued by the province or territory where the marriage took place.
If you were married outside Canada the marriage must be valid under the law of the country where it took place as well as under Canadian law.
Under the family class it is possible to sponsor same-sex partner as a spouse as long as you can show that the sponsor is a Canadian citizen or a permanent resident and you have a marriage certificate issued by an authorised Canadian province. Same-sex partnerships registered outside of Canada must be legally recognised according to both the law of the place where the marriage took place and under Canadian law in order to be considered as valid under the Canadian Immigration rules.
All applicants for permanent residence must go though medical, criminal and background screening. At the same time, sponsors wishing to bring their family members to Canada (legalise their stay) will have to show that they meet sponsorship and income requirements.
